Water scarcity in Madhya Pradesh causes mass migration

Bhopal: The acute water crisis, caused by the prevailing heatwave conditions, has triggered mass migration of people from many villages in the parched belt of Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh.

Reports from different parts of Bundelkhand region said people in water-scarce villages in the districts of Panna, Damoh, Chhatarpur, and Tikamgarh have started migrating to other states to escape their ordeal. “More than 50 villages in Panna district have been found deserted due to lack of access to water. All water sources such as hand pumps and ponds in their localities have dried up due to intense heatwave conditions,” a district officer told this newspaper on Sunday.

The region has been experiencing temperatures between 45 and 47 degrees Celsius for the last couple of weeks, causing water bodies in the belt to dry up.

Similarly, the mass migration of people from the villages of Bakshawaha, Rajnagar, Bijabar, Badamalhar and Labkushnagar in Chhatarpur district has been reported due to similar reasons.

Mass migration of people in over dozen villages, which have been hit by water scarcity, under Mastapur panchayat in Tikamgarh district has also been reported.

According to official reports, more than 80 large water bodies in the state have dried up, while over 40,000 hand pumps in rural Madhya Pradesh have become completely non-functional.